Front Line Family
Encyclopedia
Front Line Family was a British
radio soap opera
initially broadcast
on the BBC
's North American Service. It ran from 1941 until 1948 when it was replaced by Mrs Dale's Diary
. The show's storylines depicted the trials and tribulations of a British family, the Robinsons, living through the war. This featured plots about rationing, family members missing in action and the Blitz.
Front Line Family was devised as a tool in the propaganda campaign persuading the USA to join Britain in the Second World War. The BBC's Radio Drama department, under the influence of Val Gielgud
, had long resisted the production of on-going serial drama, or soap opera, as Gielgud saw them as excessively populist, part of the Americanisation of British culture and felt that the format would negatively affect the production of BBC drama . However, the demands of the war effort and the involvement of personnel from the BBC's Canadian production wing saw Front Line Family become the first soap to be produced by the BBC.
After the war the show was moved to the Light Programme in 1946 and continued to run until 1948.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
radio soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
initially broadcast
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's North American Service. It ran from 1941 until 1948 when it was replaced by Mrs Dale's Diary
Mrs Dale's Diary
Mrs Dale's Diary was the first significant BBC radio serial drama. It was first broadcast on the BBC Light Programme on 5 January 1948, and subsequently transferred to the newly formed Radio 2 in 1967, where it ran until 25 April 1969...
. The show's storylines depicted the trials and tribulations of a British family, the Robinsons, living through the war. This featured plots about rationing, family members missing in action and the Blitz.
Front Line Family was devised as a tool in the propaganda campaign persuading the USA to join Britain in the Second World War. The BBC's Radio Drama department, under the influence of Val Gielgud
Val Gielgud
Val Henry Gielgud was an English actor, writer, director and broadcaster. He was a pioneer of radio drama for the BBC, and also directed the first ever drama to be produced in the newer medium of television....
, had long resisted the production of on-going serial drama, or soap opera, as Gielgud saw them as excessively populist, part of the Americanisation of British culture and felt that the format would negatively affect the production of BBC drama . However, the demands of the war effort and the involvement of personnel from the BBC's Canadian production wing saw Front Line Family become the first soap to be produced by the BBC.
After the war the show was moved to the Light Programme in 1946 and continued to run until 1948.